Heart and Soul
by Bluelazor
Summary: Soul "Eater" Evans watched his favorite show, Light and Darkness, when the power went out like it normally did. As he and Maka adjusted to no longer having light, Soul spotted a falling star heading straight for the Academy. Upon further investigation, they discovered the show isn't fictional and is now invading their world - starting with Aiko. Rated T for violence.
1. Fiction

A large, black pot sat in the middle of the dungeon room, darkness boiling out of it like lava as a girl with long raven-black hair and stunning red eyes hovered over it, laughing. She sat on a dark Keyblade like a witch on a broomstick.  
"What will you do now, heroes?" She taunted the threesome, "unless you can stop it, my army will rise from the very depths of the Realm of Darkness and shroud this world in eternal darkness!"  
"Shut up, Xelysha!" One of them shouted at the demented witch. The person was a girl with brown hair that went down to her shoulders and brown eyes; she glared at Xelysha from her balcony that loomed over the pot. She then changed her focus to the pot that was still boiling a dark mess. The brunette knew what she had to do, she had to dive into the pot and destroy its darkened brew from the inside, but the act could end her short life. A boy's voice called from behind, pulling her out of her thoughts.  
"Don't do it, Aiko! We'll find another way!" The boy with long silver hair and turquoise eyes attempted to talk her out of jumping.  
"Yeah, what Riku said! There has to be another way," the third member of the group agreed, his brown hair in unpredictable spikes and eyes as blue as the bluest skies.  
"I have to do this. I'm sorry, Riku, Sora," Aiko regretfully replied. Before anyone could react, she immediately jumped head first into the pot.

Just then the tiny apartment went dark.  
"So not cool," the boy with red eyes and white hair that stood up in big spikes on his head sighed, "I was watching that." With each word he muttered, his teeth sharp like a shark's showed.  
"Soul! The power went out again; can you help me with this?" A voice from one of the bedrooms called out to Soul as he stood up from the couch. He nonchalantly walked over to the room the voice came from and opened the door.  
"What is it, Maka?" Soul questioned as he stepped into the small bedroom. Maka, a girl with solid green eyes and dirty-blonde hair that was up in two ponytails looked up at Soul from her spot in front of her desk, which was covered in textbooks. He knew immediately what she was going to say and sighed, "I'll go get the flashlight." Soul walked off only to return a few minutes later with a flashlight, he turned it on and pointed it at the textbooks.  
"Thank you, Soul." Maka gratefully responded as she continued reading and taking notes. "I heard a bit of that show you were watching, it sounded pretty intense."  
"Yeah it was. Hey, Maka, if you were in Aiko's position what would you do? Would you jump too?" Soul watched as Maka stopped what she was doing to think carefully about her answer.  
"I think I probably would."  
"Even though you could die?"  
"Yeah, I'd take that chance. Now be quiet, I'm trying to study!"  
"You started the conversation," Soul muttered as he looked out the window. Just then something fell from the sky towards Death Weapon Meister Academy, it looked like a shooting star but something about it seemed different from an actual shooting star. "What's that? Some kind of shooting star?"  
"It probably is one, Soul." Maka casually responded, not looking up from her notes.  
"I don't think so; it's heading straight for the Academy! I'm going to go check it out," Soul headed for the front door of their apartment, taking the flashlight with him.  
"Soul!" Maka ran after him.

Soul reached the top of the stairs to the Academy and started searching the ground with the flashlight. His eyes widened when he found an unconscious Aiko on the ground. Maka ran over to him, stopping to catch her breath, and stared in surprise at who they found.  
"That's impossible," Maka gasped, "She's just an anime character! She's not real!"


	2. Reality

Lord Death bounced up and down in excitement at the prospect of a new student at the Academy, his black cloak moving very little and his cartoon-like skull mask covering his face. It wasn't the fact he could gain a new student that excited him, he gets a ton of those every year, it was the fact that this one could use the Keyblade… something he had waited his very long life to see in person.  
"I don't understand this, she's a fictional character. How could she possibly be here?" Maka asked no one in particular, her mood very different from Lord Death's as she stared at the floor in confusion.  
"It's very simple; she's not a fictional character. She's as real as you and I, Maka." Lord Death replied, his voice sounding extremely joyful – a very odd thing since he's a Grim Reaper.  
"She is? How?" Soul questioned Lord Death's response, just as confused as his Meister.  
"She exists. You see, there are more worlds and universes than our own. There are thousands of them and all of them are connected by invisible ties. Some people, like Aiko, have found ways to travel to the different worlds and in most cases these people do their best to help these worlds and protect them from disaster. The majority of these world explorers are chosen weilders of the Keyblade, a magical weapon that can unlock nearly anything and use magic… it also looks like a giant key, which I find rather amusing!" Lord Death tilted his head as he continued, "however, there are a few world explorers who do not try to protect the worlds. They follow the other explorers; taking thorough notes on their journey like advanced stalkers and then take their records to worlds that have no knowledge of any of these people. They then use their notes to make cartoons or shows based on their adventures while claiming it to be fiction. Those people get a lot of money and the world remains oblivious to the fact their heroes actually exist."  
"So this Aiko person is just another victim of clever plagiarism?" A boy asked, stepping out from behind the giant mirror in the middle of the room. His eyes were yellow, becoming more golden as it got closer to his pupils, his hair being short and all black with the exception of three white lines on the left side, each line stopping in the exact center of the front and back of his head. Behind him stood two girls of different heights, the taller one with longer hair than the shorter one and both having blue eyes and blonde hair.  
"That's about it! It's possible whoever made the series is still stalking her today for more plot-lines." Lord Death said, clapping his two extremely large hands together for no reason, "Speaking of Aiko, how is she?"  
"She's still unconscious, Nygus says she'll be alright… but there is a high chance she'll suffer from extreme amnesia for a while," Soul calmly replied, hiding his disappointment.  
"Aiko's going to need a place to stay until she recovers. She could stay at the Academy, but I'm not sure how comfortable she'd be living here. Although Crona probably wouldn't mind a neighbor, wouldn't you, Crona?" Lord Death practically sang out the last part as he turned to a boy with short, light pink hair.  
"I-I guess; but I still don't know how to d-deal with people." Crona responded as he held his right arm nervously. He suddenly held his head and screamed a bit in pain as a black creature revealed itself through his back.  
"Hey! Can she cook well? If she can, I wouldn't mind having her as a neighbor!" The black creature excitedly spoke up, placing his white hands over Crona's head. His eyes, that are more like white circles with black X's in them looked at Lord Death as if hoping the person they're talking about is exactly how he wishes she'd be.  
"According to the show she's in, she is a good cook." Soul answered as the creature immediately got so excited he started poking Crona's face.  
"Ow! Ragnarok, stop it! I don't know how to deal with the poking, it hurts!" Crona begged as he tried to push Ragnarok's hands away from his pale face. Ragnarok merely stopped for a moment before poking Crona some more.  
"Oh, Kid." Lord Death turned to the yellow eyed boy, who is in fact his son, Death the Kid. "Perhaps you would like to go see Aiko yourself, you just might like her."  
"Alright, father," Kid sighed, "Liz, Patty, time to go." He walked out of the Death Room with the two girls, Liz and Patty Thompson, right behind him. Soul watched the threesome leave knowing exactly what Lord Death was doing, he was playing matchmaker again.

"Aiko! Where are you?" Sora shouted, desperately trying to find his missing friend in a jungle. "I know you're not dead, you couldn't possibly be dead right now!"  
"Just face the facts, Sora," Riku sighed finding his friend's actions very difficult to watch, "there's no way she could have survived an attack like that." He immediately ducked under the bushes, pulling Sora down with him at the sound of Xelysha's laughter as she flew over them. "That darn witch," he grumbled under his breath, finding himself growing to hate the black haired girl more and more.

"Liz! Patty! Look! She is," Kid nearly grinned while looking the unconscious Aiko over, "perfectly symmetrical in every way! She's the very image of perfection!"  
"Oh great, here we go again," Liz muttered, not amused by Kid's outburst. Patty immediately started laughing and poking Aiko's face.  
"She's so out of it!" Patty laughed.


	3. Hope

Sora frantically looked around him for Aiko, he knew she was alive somewhere. Suddenly a sound broke out, he immediately ducked down barely avoiding a fireball that glazed over his head, turning around he found himself face to face with Xelysha. Riku was no where in sight. Sora would have to hold her off by himself.  
"Don't worry, Sora," Xelysha smirked as two Keyblades appeared in her hands, "I'll make your death quick and painful."  
"I'm not dying today, Xelysha!" Sora glared at her, immediately summoning his own Keyblade and pointing it at her. "Aeroga!" A tornado erupted out of his Keyblade straight at Xelysha, lifting her off the ground and spinning her around like a balloon over a fan. He charged at her and jumped up, attacking her constantly while both of them are airborne. Just as he landed back on the ground, he jumped back a ways putting distance between the two as the spell wore off. Xelysha face planted into the ground, she snarled as she got back up.  
"Now it's my turn," she leaped at Sora as her Keyblades burst into flames and attacked him what seemed to be endlessly as he did his best to block with one Keyblade. "You really think you can beat me? You're a fool, you'll only end up like Aiko," the flames around Xelysha's Keyblades suddenly died off, "Thundaga!" Lightning suddenly crashed from the skies, smacking the ground around Xelysha. Sora barely managed to get out of the shock radius, he stood there watching, panting, and just waiting for the right time to strike back.

"I-I'm glad you're a-awake now, Aiko," Crona stammered nervously, "Maka and Soul were worried a-about you."  
"Yeah, I'm glad to be up too," Aiko smiled as she walked with Crona carefully, using crutches for support. She stopped walking and looked at her pink haired companion, "you seem nervous, though. Is something wrong, Crona?"  
"N-no, nothing's wrong… I just don't know how to deal with people."  
"Oh… okay then. It's not too late to learn." Just then Ragnarok climbed out of Crona's back.  
"Hey! I know a way you can learn, Crona," Ragnarok snickered as he grabbed Aiko and Crona's heads, pushing them together and forcing their lips to touch. Aiko pushed his hand off of her and pulled away, not sure what to say to that as Crona started freaking out.  
"I'm sorry! Uh… I don't know how to deal with this situation," Crona poked his index fingers together, unable to look at Aiko now.  
"It's fine, Crona." Aiko responded, glaring at Ragnarok. "I'll see you two later, okay?" She then turned and continued down the hallway, leaving Crona alone with Raganrok who instantly started punching at Crona's head.  
"You dummy! You're supposed to get the girl so I can get the food!" Ragnarok kept beating at Crona. "She's been awake for two weeks now, you're moving too slow!"  
"Ow! Stop it! That hurts!" Crona tried to get Ragnarok's hands away from him.  
"Then work faster and get her! She doesn't remember anything so now's the time to get her! If she has a boyfriend then she doesn't remember him!"

"Stop Raid!" Sora threw his Keyblade like a boomerang at Xelysha hitting her directly. He caught his Keyblade as it came back and watched Xelysha who stood there like a statue, frozen in time. "That should give me some time," he rejoiced at his success and raced off deeper into the forest.

"Sora!" A red headed girl called out as she ran over to him. "Where's Riku?"  
"I don't know… I thought he was with you, Kairi," Sora responded, taking Kairi's hand as he passed her, continuing to run with the girl stumbling behind him.  
"What's going on? Why are we running?"  
"It's Xelysha! I managed to freeze her in time for a while, but it'll wear off at any moment!"  
"That's not good… Oh! Sora! Master Yen Sid says Aiko isn't dead!"  
"Really? Where is she?"  
"He doesn't know. He says that during the explosion Xelysha made, she was somehow transported to another world, most likely a world we've never been to."  
Sora sighed as he slowed down, knowing that finding Aiko now will take a lot more work than he thought.

A black creature with yellow eyes hovered over to Xelysha, wearing a green hat and a matching robe with the Heartless symbol in the middle. It looked at the giant book in its hands and cast a spell at the frozen Xelysha. She took in a deep breath as she moved again.  
"Ah, Bookmaster. Have you found her?" She questioned the Heartless who then nodded and showed her the book. Xelysha read the page and smirked, "found you, Aiko. No more hiding for you."


	4. Crona

Hearing a noise behind her, Xelysha turned around to see Maleficent in the room, glaring at her. The red eyed girl just sighed as she ignored friendly greetings, going straight to what brought Maleficent here.  
"What do you want, Maleficent?" She blandly asked the horned witch.  
"I've come to take back what's rightfully mine… the Heartless." Maleficent replied, gesturing at a few Neoshadows that were mindlessly roaming about the room, "I was controlling them long before you even existed, Xelysha, they belong to me."  
"heh. You're just jealous because they like me better."  
"I am not jealous of you," Maleficent calmly spoke, "unlike you, I actually exist… and I know I'll be living a lot longer than you will. The darkness will swallow you and destroy you before it even thinks of going after me." Xelysha glared at her company.  
"You're making assumptions, I am darkness. That is all I consist of; it doesn't make sense that darkness would consume itself."  
"An excellent point," Maleficent smiled, "and since we have a common enemy, perhaps we could join forces in vanquishing them?"  
"I see nothing wrong with that. The more involved, the more miserable they are, that's the way I see it."

"Such perfect symmetry!" Kid gasped while admiring a drawing, "it's amazing!"  
"It is?" Aiko asked, looking at the drawing she just made which is now being admired by a Shinigami, "I guess it is."  
"It's almost as perfect as you!"  
"N-no," Aiko waved her hands in front of her face, embarrassed now, "I'm not perfect."  
"Yes you are!" Kid's eyes gleamed as he grinned at the symmetry before him. Liz just rolled her eyes as Patty started laughing a loud and fast laugh that would make strangers worry.  
"Hey Aiko," Liz spoke up in attempts to change the subject," I heard Nygus released you from the crutches, it must be nice not having to use them anymore."  
"It is nice… they're very confusing."  
"And those crutches ruined your symmetry! It was terrible!" Kid began to freak out at the memory.  
"Calm down, Kid! It's all behind us now!" Liz attempted to calm him down.  
"Yeah, and look!" Aiko held her drawing up so it's the only thing Kid can see.  
"ah… symmetry," Kid admired the drawing, instantly calming down.

"She's around here somewhere," Xelysha muttered as she entered Death City, the crescent moon looming in the sky with its usual grin and blood oozing out between its teeth.  
"Are you looking for Aiko?" A small voice questioned from the darkness of an alleyway. Xelysha turned to look in the direction of the voice as Crona stepped out of the alleyway into the light of the bleeding moon, "Maka told me about you, she said you'd come sooner or later."  
"Ah, and who might you be?" Xelysha smirked, knowing full well what's going to happen after the introductions.  
"I'm Demon-swordsmen, Crona," the pink haired boy responded with a determined look on his face, a look that rarely appears. "You're here to kill Aiko, aren't you?"  
"Of course I am, Crona. Are you here to stand in my way?"  
"Yes, I won't let you touch her, she's my friend," a dark cloud of mist formed above Crona, he reached up into it and pulled out a black sword with a white line down the middle of the blade with some sort of bandage all over the handle. He charged at Xelysha and swung violently at her, she immediately summoned her Keyblades and blocked with ease.  
"You should just step aside, Crona. You can't win, you'll only die," she began attacking faster than her opponent could block. Finally hitting him and cutting the skin, Xelysha was surprised to find her Keyblade stop instead of going right through. "What?"  
"My blood is black, you know," the pale boy spoke up with a hauntingly vacant expression on his face, a small amount of black blood dripping out of his arm and falling to the ground. "Bloody needle," the blood on the ground suddenly hardened and sprung out like sharp needles, puncturing Xelysha in various places. The red eyed girl took a few steps back, gasping and watching her own blood fall.  
"What was that?"  
"I told you, my blood is black. You can't cut through me, my blood will only harden. You should just leave, you'll never win," Crona then took a strange position, his knees bent inward towards each other as he held the sword over and behind his head, pointing the blade down towards the ground, and then spoke once more, "Ragnarok, Scream Resonance." A large mouth suddenly formed in the middle of the sword and opened wide, its red tongue licked its teeth as it smiled with delight and then opened wide and screamed. Xelysha's Keyblades vanished as she covered her ears and hunched over, feeling herself shake all over from the intensity of the scream.  
"Shut up!" Xelysha yelled over Ragnarok's scream, bravely removing one hand from one of her ears and snapping her fingers. Four black creatures with yellow eyes appeared behind Crona, floating in the air, all of them appeared to be wearing a pointy hat with a strange dress that covers all of them except for the small bit that reveals their eyes. All of the new creatures had the Heartless symbol in the middle, but each one had different coloring; one red, the second blue, the third yellow, and the fourth green. The first one, Red Nocturne, immediately cast a fire spell at Crona's back.  
"Crona! Look out!" Ragnarok shouted, seeing the fireball. Crona glanced over his shoulder and tried to move out of the way, but moved too late. He fell down to the ground and screamed out in pain from the spell that was now causing internal damage, smoke coming out of his mouth as he talked.  
"My insides feel like they're on fire! I don't know how to deal with them being on fire!" Crona yelped while squirming on the ground.

Sora's joints squeaked as he stood up straight, his now plastic body parts glistening in the sunlight coming in from the window high above him.  
"What is going on here?" He asked himself as he looked down at his hands, his eyes widening, "I'm an action figure!"  
"Where are we?" Kairi, now a Barbie, sat up and looked around, "everything's so big."  
"This world turned us into toys… I'm looking forward to finding the exit to this world already," Riku complained as he stared at his soft shoes that were stitched into his plush body.


	5. Control

Crona swayed back and forth as he walked down the streets of Death City towards the Academy, dragging his black sword behind him, his white face nearly glowing under the light of the pale, bleeding moon. Xelysha followed him from the safety of the shadows, not wishing to be detected by anyone.  
"Crona?" The pink haired boy looked up to find himself face-to-face with Maka and Soul. "Are you okay, Crona? We've been looking everywhere for you," Maka asked Crona with a concerned look on her face.  
"Who are you?" Crona stood there in a bewildered state.  
"Huh? Crona, you know who we are. We're you friends," Soul replied, immediately suspecting something to be wrong.  
"Friends? I don't have friends. I don't know how to deal with people," Crona immediately swung the dark sword at Maka and Soul who instinctively jumped out of the sword's path.  
"You do have friends, Crona. Don't you remember?" Maka asked, trying to figure out what's going on. "Soul!" Maka called out to Soul as he glowed and floated into Maka's hands while transforming into a scythe with an eye design on the handle. Maka grabbed the handle and twirled it in front of her like a baton before taking a stance, ready for a fight if she has to. "You know us, Crona!"  
"I don't know you, I only know Lady Medusa and Lady Xelysha," the skittish boy swung his sword at the green-eyed girl again, his whole body swaying in the motions of his attacks. Maka immediately blocked it with the large scythe.  
"No, Crona! You know Soul and me, and the others! Snap out of it!"  
"Snap out of what? I don't know how to deal with people telling me to snap out of things," Crona then swung Ragnaraok at Maka again, which was blocked like the first one. "Screech Gamma" the sword in his hands suddenly turned completely black with a purple glow around it, breaking off into pieces as it strikes at Maka over and over again. Maka struggled to keep steady as the blows kept hitting the handle part of the scythe in her hands. "Stop it! Stop!" Crona screamed as Ragnarok kept striking Maka.  
"Maka, do you sense another soul anywhere?" Soul stammered as he took blows left and right.  
"No… wait. Yeah, there is one. Huh… now it's gone. That's so weird," Maka replied in astonishment.  
"Just focus on the fight… Maka! Look out!" Soul instantly turned into his human form and shoved Maka out of the way just as Crona sliced through his chest for the second time in their lives.  
"Soul!" Maka caught him as he fell down, knowing it was her fault again because she got distracted by the soul that seemed to have vanished into thin air. "Why did you do this, Crona? We're friends! Why would you do this?"  
Crona continued to sway, holding Ragnarok above his head as he smiled a crooked smile.  
"I already told you, I don't know you so how could we be friends if I don't know you? I really don't know how to deal with this situation."

Sora's plastic shoes clanged against the metal air vent as he raced down it with Buzz Lightyear, Rex, Mr. Potato Head, and Slinkey. The only way to save their friend Woody was by reaching the elevator in time, but they could only move so fast. Rumbling echoed throughout the vent as the elevator moved upwards to receive the man who stole Woody from the garage sale only a day before Sora, Riku, and Kairi arrived in this strange world. The group screeched to a halt on the metal as the elevator stopped and they found themselves looking at another toy, Emperor Zurg.  
"So, we meet again, Buzz Lightyear, for the last time," Emperor Zurg spoke as the yellow lights for his mouth lit up with every word he said. Rex instantly began to panic as Zurg raised his right arm, a gun with yellow balls inside.  
"Look out! He's got an ion blaster!" Rex shouted, waving his little arms everywhere. Yellow balls started releasing from the arm-gun in Zurg as Buzz leaped over the purple villain and landed behind him. Sora raced onto the elevator while Zurg was distracted with Buzz's lazer that was shot into his red-glowing eyes. Zurg raised his left hand and snapped his plastic fingers which were soon followed by a fleet of rag doll Heartless that surrounded Sora.  
"You really thought I would come alone?" Zurg spoke as he continued pointing his attention to Buzz. Sora summoned his Keyblade, now used to the fact its plastic and began fighting off the Heartless. Zurg grabbed Buzz and banged him against a part of the wall before lifting the space ranger above his head and spinning him around, throwing him at the ground. "Surrender, Buzz. I have won."  
"I'll never give up," Buzz panted, "you killed my father!"  
"No Buzz, I am your father."  
Sora quickly finished off the last Heartless and ran at them.  
"Come on, Buzz!" The action figure shouted at the space ranger, "you can beat him, just believe in yourself."  
Rex, who had already beaten Sora to reaching Buzz and Zurg continued to panic and turned around, smacking Zurg with his tail on accident. Zurg slid back and fell off of the elevator, unable to stop his wheels. The dinosaur rejoiced when he realized what he did.  
"I did it! I finally defeated Zurg!" Rex shouted as his arms waved around in delight.  
"Father," Buzz reached down at the Zurg that was now disappearing into the darkness, unable to contain his grief.

Maka clung onto Soul as all of her memories flashed before her, she knew what was coming. There was a reason the moon was drooling blood. Crona swung down to slice Maka in half and claim her soul when suddenly a black sword blocked Ragnarok from touching Maka.  
"Hey, Crona. You really think I'd just sit back and let you kill my friends? I don't think so," the blue haired boy used his muscles to push Crona back. "I'm the big star around here! Remember that!"


	6. Remember

Black*Star charged at Crona as shadows all around them swarmed in and snatched Crona, making it impossible for the pale boy to move out of the way. With a single punch into Crona, Black*Star sent an electrical energy throughout Crona and zapped him intensely.  
"This really hurts, I don't know how to deal with the pain," Crona spoke as a portal appeared behind him and the shadows released him. Black*Star stood there, dumbfounded, the shadows released Crona on their own… He did not tell them to do that.  
"Crona! No!" Maka called out to Crona as he stepped back into the portal and disappeared from sight. Black*Star ran at the portal, but didn't move fast enough. Right as he reached the portal, it vanished into thin air. The sword in his hand glowed as it left his hand and transformed into Tsubaki, a tall girl with black hair up in a pony tail.  
"Soul needs to see Professor Stein right away," Tsubaki gently spoke as she placed a hand on the frustrated Black*Star's shoulder.  
"Alright," Black*Star walked over to Maka and picked up the unconscious Soul.

_The rain poured down upon Radiant Garden as Aiko held onto her stomach while curled up in a painful ball on the ground. Looking around the boulder that kept her hidden, she saw a horrible sight. Her friend, a boy of seven-teen with blonde hair and big blue eyes stumbled before collapsing into a muddy puddle, the holes inside of him bled out. The muddy puddle quickly changed from brown to blood red. Xelysha stood before the boy with her keyblades out, both covered in blood. Sensing the presence of someone else, she turned around and saw Aiko watching her. She knew Aiko posed no threat to her, she only smirked at the wounded girl and vanished into a nearby portal.  
Aiko kept a hold of her stomach as she crawled over to her fallen friend, leaving a muddy trail behind her. Carefully, she sat up and looked over her friend, now sprawled out in the puddle of blood.  
"Fain," she softly spoke, unable to register the sight before her. Fain used all of his strength to give Aiko one last smile.  
"It's all… up to you now, Aiko," Fain winced, "for the good of… everyone… you have to end this."  
"Please, don't go," Aiko begged as her tears blended with the rain drops on her face, "we can go see Merlin, he can heal you… Can't he?" Her begging was in vain, he was already gone. Aiko fell over and put her arms around Fain's corpse and sobbed._

"Are you alright, Aiko?" Liz asked the pale girl across from her at the large dining table.  
"I'm fine, I just had a horrible nightmare last night," Aiko answered, holding her head.  
"A nightmare, huh?" Kid responded as Patty stuffed her face with scrambled eggs and toast, "perhaps it was a memory."  
"Maybe, it felt like it was."  
"Well, if you need to talk about it, we're here for you."  
"Hey, Kid. Can I talk to you for a sec?" Liz chimed in.  
"Of course," Kid and Liz stood up and walked out of the room. Aiko sat there, poking her eggs with a fork while Patty stared at her.

"Kid, what are we going to do?" Liz questioned as she closed the door behind them, "your dad said if Xelysha came here, we'd have to keep it a secret from Aiko. Xelysha's the only one we know who can make portals like the one Crona disappeared into. How are we going to keep this hidden from Aiko? Soul's in the infirmary and Crona is missing, not to mention Black*Star will probably go on a long rant on how he'll get revenge." Kid kept quiet a few moments as he thought it over.  
"It seems we won't be able to. Aiko's only getting bits and pieces of her memories back, it's possible she remembers seeing Xelysha, but she still doesn't know Xelysha's name." The young Reaper looked back at the door, "Or maybe she does."  
"What?"  
"She had a nightmare last night; it could be one of her memories coming back to her. It is possible it could be the memory where she learns Xelysha's name." Kid reopened the doors and entered the dining room, only to find Patty running around the room while flapping her arms.  
"Oink! Oink!" Patty grinned. Aiko smiled and chuckled while watching Patty, Kid watched and realized something: this is the first time she's actually smiled since she came to Death City.

"Phew. We're finally out of that place," Riku breathed while piloting the Gummy Ship.  
"What activated the Keyhole anyway?" Kairi inquired with curiosity since she wasn't there when the Keyhole revealed itself and Sora locked it, saving the world from receiving more Heartless. Sora looked at Kairi and grinned.  
"Woody's hat," Sora answered and then looked at Riku, "we should go back sometime, I actually enjoyed being an action figure!"  
"I'm sure you did," Riku muttered.  
"So what's the next world?"  
"That one," Riku pointed at a planet in the distance, the part sticking out was a building with three large spikes sticking out of the front with a sun in the background. 'Does that sun have a face?' Riku thought with a puzzled expression, 'Why does it seem to be laughing?'

"Well at least Kid will be happy about this," Soul sighed as he lay on the infirmary bed, "my scar is finally symmetrical." Maka just stared at the floor. "Maka, it's going to be okay. We'll figure out what Xelysha did to Crona and get him back… You'll see."


	7. Recovery

"Aiko, this is important. We need to know what you remember," Kid demanded in his usual calm tone as he sat across from her at the table. Patty continued roaming around the room imitating various animals.  
"I remember a boy named Fain… I don't remember much about him, but he died. A girl with black hair and red eyes killed him," Aiko shook her head, trying frantically to remember everything, "before he died, he said it was up to me and I had to end 'it' but I don't remember what 'it' was I had to end." She held her head, "I remember meeting someone, a group of people… There were three, two boys and a girl. I don't remember their names, but I can sort of picture them… The picture is really fuzzy, though."  
"Is there anything else?"  
"Just one thing… A giant key, that's all I remember."  
"That's probably the Keyblade. I'm assuming it was your weapon of choice… Can you try summoning it?"  
"I guess," Aiko reached her hand out the way she remembered and closed her eyes. A small glow appeared in her hand which quickly grew and took the form of a large and heavy Keyblade. Liz quickly stood up and ran over to Aiko as she fell over in her chair. Only after catching her did Liz notice that Aiko's cheeks were wet, she was crying. "I remember how I got this… Fain gave this key to me right before that girl showed up and killed him… He said I needed it more than he did."  
"He must have known he was going to die," Kid stood up and walked over to the window, looking up at the sky and the laughing sun.  
"Kid!" Liz snapped as she held Aiko, who's sobbing only got worse by that remark.  
"If he knew, then he should have told me! I could have done something!" Aiko yelled at Kid as tears streamed down her face, she couldn't remember Fain extremely well, but remembering his death by reliving it in a dream just made forgotten emotions emerge. The Keyblade vanished from her hand as she hugged Liz while mourning Fain's death.  
"I'm sorry, I should not have said that," Kid apologized before leaving the room. Liz held onto Aiko, trying to calm her down.  
"Sh… It'll be alright, but you need to be strong for Fain, okay?" Liz gently spoke to Aiko, being much more patient with the sobbing girl than she is with her own Meister.  
"O-okay," Aiko quietly replied as she felt herself begin to calm down.

Xelysha paced around in the decaying shack, she knew it was impossible to hide now. That girl with the scythe, Maka, she already knew Xelysha was there. How did she know? How could a girl sense Xelysha's presence like that?  
"L-Lady Xelysha," Crona nervously spoke up, not making eye contact, "I-I've finished fixing the r-roof." Xelysha looked up at the ceiling, noticing how there were still holes in the ceiling, she then snatched Crona and pinned him to the wall, glaring at him.  
"You idiot! See? There are still holes!" Xelysha slapped Crona across the face, leaving an imprint on his cheek, "get back up there and fix that roof! I don't want to see your face down here until that roof is fixed!" She let go of him and he quickly scrambled out of the house and up the ladder with Ragnarok holding the hammer. Ragnarok just laughed at Crona and looked out at Death City in the distance.  
"Things are definitely getting exciting around here," Ragnarok exclaimed to himself.

"That girl has got some nerve taking the spotlight away from me," Black*Star vented out his frustration. "Who does she think she is?! She just runs into Death City, takes Crona, and acts like she can take away my spotlight!"  
"It is horrible, Black*Star," Tsubaki quietly agreed with him as they walked down the Academy hallway towards the infirmary.  
"She better hope I don't see her, because if I do, she'll have so many broken bones she'll fall apart!"  
"Yes, Black*Star."

Maka looked up from her book to see the infirmary door open. She smiled at the sight of Tsubaki and Black*Star.  
"Hey," Soul greeted his friends as he lied on the bed.  
"Hey, Soul! The Great Me has come to brighten your day with my presence!" Black*Star grinned as he walked into the infirmary.  
"Kid said he'd be here soon. He said there's something he needs to tell us, something important," Maka informed them, trying to figure out just what it is Kid wants to tell them.  
"Ha! Just remember this, I beat him here! I got here first! Yahoo!"  
"Of course, you'll never let us forget it," Soul mumbled. Just then, three new faces to the group showed up. Soul's red eyes widened at the sight of them. "Hey, I know you three. You're Sora, Riku, and Kairi."  
"How do you know our names?" Riku inquired, finding it extremely odd. Sora just grinned and put his hands behind his head.  
"You're from a show I watch all the time!" Black*Star entered the conversation immediately, unable to let himself be left out of any conversation, "it's an anime called 'Light and Dark'. It's awesome; of course it would be better if I was in it."  
"Of course, Black*Star" Tsubaki chuckled.  
"Light… and Dark," Sora repeated the title as he looked at Riku, who only sighed.  
"Hey, someone's coming," Kairi spoke up while looking down the hallway, "he's kinda cute."  
"Kairi!" Sora pleaded with Kairi, unable to contain his jealousy at the fact she just called another boy "cute". Kairi only giggled and backed up, giving the cute boy some space. That cute boy was none other than Lord Death's son, Death the Kid.  
"Ah, so you three made it, I was beginning to think you wouldn't show," Kid smiled at the threesome.  
"Wait, you knew we were coming?" Riku stood there, extremely confused.  
"I figured you would come here the moment I heard about Xelysha's arrival. I will say you have excellent timing, Aiko was just starting to remember you."  
"Aiko?! She's alive?!" Sora grabbed Kid by his suit collar, "where is she? Is she alright?!"  
"She's fine," Kid managed pushed Sora back and straightened his suit, "she's experiencing some memory loss, but that's it. Fortunately, her memory is starting to come back." He finally took the time to look at Sora and noticed the boy's spikey hair, unable to contain it, he snapped. "And what is with your hair?! The spikes are going everywhere in an untidy mess! Just look at all of those angles! It's a disaster! An asymmetrical disaster!" Sora stood there, dumbfounded.


End file.
